Jawad Ahmed ISLAMABAD, May 26 (INP-WealthPK): The exports of goods and services by Pakistan registered an increase of 26% in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, compared to the same period last year, reports WealthPK. According to a monthly report of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the volume of exports of goods and services remained at $32.64 billion from July to April of the fiscal year 2022, compared to $25.91 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. The volume of exports of goods and services during April 2022 amounted to $3.78 billion against $2.80 billion during April 2021. The comparison shows a healthy growth of 35% during the corresponding months. The exports of goods and services maintained the growth momentum in April of the current fiscal and reached $3.78 billion, compared to $3.74 billion of March 2022. According to provisional data released by SBP, the export of commodities surged by 27.8% and reached $26.85 billion during July to April period of the current fiscal, compared to $21.02 billion in the same months of the previous year. The exports of services increased by 18.6% and reached $5.79 billion from July to April period of the current fiscal, compared to $4.90 billion in the same period of the previous year. The textile sector got a lion’s share of 56% in the exports. It brought $15.09 billion to the country in the first 10 months of the current fiscal, compared to $11.7 billion in the same period of the previous year. Exports of food items including rice, wheat, fish and vegetables accounted for $4.356 billion during the same period of the current fiscal. [caption id="attachment_67411" align="aligncenter" width="696"] Source: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)/ WealthPK Research[/caption] The exports of petroleum products reached $347 million from July to April period of the current fiscal, showing an increase of more than 78%. The exports of other products including surgical and medical instruments, sports goods, leather items, chemical and pharmaceutical products brought $3.58 billion to the country. According to the SBP report, the United States, China and the UK are the top export destinations of Pakistani products during the current fiscal. From July to April, exports to the United States climbed from $4.02 billion to $5.62 billion, registering an increase of 40%. Exports to China increased by 42.7% and reached $2.34 billion from $1.64 billion during the first 10 months of the current fiscal as compared to the same period of the previous year. Exports to the UK increased by 9.5% and reached $1.85 billion from $1.69 billion. On the other hand, imports of goods and services surged to $69.165 billion from $50.025 billion during the first 10 months of the current fiscal as compared to the same period of previous year. According to a month-on-month comparison, imports fell by 2.5% in April 2022 and reached $7.015 billion, compared to $7.195 billion in March 2022. The data show that the balance on trade in goods and services from July to April in the current fiscal is in a deficit of $32.95 billion, compared to $22.02 billion of the previous year in the corresponding period. [caption id="attachment_67412" align="aligncenter" width="696"] Source: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)[/caption] Following a significant growth in the import bill, the imports of some commodities began to decline in March 2022. In April, the import of food items dropped by 25.77%, machinery by1.2% and transportation goods by 11.3% while import of agricultural and chemical items fell by 1.4%, compared to the previous month of the current fiscal. “The government has imposed restrictions on import of non-essential and luxury items to rein in the rising import bill,” sources told WealthPK.